Which language do you study at school?

Question

In my country we are taught English as different language at school, but which one do you learn there?

I have heard you can choose a language you like in some of them. Which ones can you choose?

Thanks for your help.

Clive · Accepted Answer

Hi,

When I was in high school in England years ago, most people in my class learned French.

The choice was limited by the availability of teachers. If you wanted to learn eg Chinese, you had to wait until University.

Clive

Anonymous · Answer

In England you basically learn French at high school? Thank you for your reply.

By the way,

If you wanted to learn eg Chinese, you had to wait until University.

Is the sentence simply the past tense? Or is it the subjunctive mood? I suppose the present tense can also be used in here.

I would appreciate your answer.

Clive · Answer

Hi,

It's a conditional sentence about the past.

Compare 'If you want to learn Chinese, you do not have to wait', which is a conditional sentence about the present.

Clive

Cool Breeze · Answer

AnonymousIn my country we are taught English

What is your country?

In Finland practically everybody learns English in comprehensive school and secondary school. Swedish is also taught to those whose native language is Finnish since Finland is officially a bilingual country. On some islands and in some coastal areas the vast majority of people speak Swedish as their native language but you'll have a hard time trying to find a Swedish-speaking person in the north and east of the country.

Some students learn German or French in comprehensive schools, but this isn't very common. It's more common to learn those languages in secondary school. Latin is also taught in a few secondary schools. When I attended school, studying Latin was a little more common. I studied Latin for three years in school, which proved to be very useful as in those days passing an exam in Latin was required of all university students majoring in a humanistic discipline. Latin isn't spoken anywhere but it has been a very useful tool for me enabling me to understand to some extent languages I have never studied. It is also of great assistance in helping understand what lies behind many English words as about 60 percent of English words derive from Latin.

Learning foreign languages is a must for Finns since Finnish isn't spoken outside Finland. We would be cut off from the world if we didn't study them. Because of this, the teaching of foreign languages has a long history in Finland and is taken very seriously. All school teachers of all subjects must have a university degree, for instance. It takes the vast majority of university students more than five years to become qualified teachers.

CB

Anonymous · Answer

Dear Clive,

Thanks for your explanation, but I am still not sure why the conditional sentence about the past is used.

What intention exists by using the conditional sentence about the past?

Dear Cool Breeze,

I am Japanese. Thank you for your reply. In Finland a number of languages are taught, aren't they?

Clive · Answer

Hi,

If you wanted to learn eg Chinese, you had to wait until University.

I am still not sure why the conditional sentence about the past is used.

What intention exists by using the conditional sentence about the past?

Consider these examples.

Right now, it is Monday. if you want to buy a pen, you have to give your teacher a dollar.

Now a day has gone by. It is Tuesday. Someone asks me, 'What was the situation yesterday?'

I answer like this.

Yesterday, if you wanted to buy a pen, you had to give your teacher a dollar.

Clive

Drew.ward · Answer

In the US it varies from region to region but almost all schools have at the least Spanish and French. On the East Coast and Gulf Coast most schools also offer one or all of Latin, German, and Sign Language. Obviously not all schools offer the same courses and budgets and demand play a part in what's available.

In Louisiana (where I went to school) every student is required at least 2 years of a foreign language to graduate high school. Many elementary schools are immersion based (usually French).

My high school offered 4 years of French, German, Spanish, Latin, & Russian, 3 years of Arabic, and 2 years of Chinese, Sign Language, and Cajun French. That much variety isn't the norm, but it was fun to have all those option.

Anonymous · Answer

Dear Clive,

Thank you very much for your explanation. It is so easy to understand.

If you wanted to learn eg Chinese, you had to wait until University.
Yesterday, if you wanted to buy a pen, you had to give your teacher a dollar.

I clearly understand both sentences if the subject is "I" instead of "you".

Concerning this don't I need to consider deeply? Thank you for your reply.

Dear drew.ward,

It depends on areas, but in US you learn many languages too! That sounds fun.

I appreciate your answer.

Clive · Answer

Hi,

If you wanted to learn eg Chinese, you had to wait until University.
Yesterday, if you wanted to buy a pen, you had to give your teacher a dollar.

I clearly understand both sentences if the subject is "I" instead of "you".

'You' is commonly used in this general way to mean 'a person'. You could also use the more formal pronoun 'one'.

Concerning this don't I need to consider deeply? It's always a good idea to consider things deeply.

Clive

Anonymous · Answer

It makes sense! I finally understand. I am really grateful that you explained until I understood.

I also appreciate your kind words, Clive.

Which language do you study at school?

Top answer

Get the Weekly English Kit 📬

Related Questions